The present invention relates generally to a system and method for detecting the position of one or more field producing elements and, more particularly, to a system and method that can determine the position of a moving field producing element without a direct electrical or physical connection.
A common requirement for controlling and monitoring electro-mechanical systems is to determine and/or measure the position of one or more moving elements. Determining and/or measuring the position associated with moving elements is generally straightforward when a direct electrical or mechanical connection is incorporated between the moving element(s) and the sensor(s) that detects the movement of the moving element(s). Such measurements become more difficult when there is no direct electrical or mechanical connection between the moving element(s) and the sensor(s) (e.g., contactless sensing).
The need for contactless sensing arises in a variety of applications. For example, fluid level sensors, sensing objects within a sealed container, clutch applications, linear variable differential transducer (LVDT) applications, etc. A drawback associated with conventional contactless position sensors relates to processing of the output signals from the sensors. Generally the outputs of such sensors are not completely linear and/or the property measured is non-linear. Another drawback with conventional contactless position sensors is the difficulty in excluding a measurement sensed from a sensor that has failed or is defective. Another drawback is the cost associated with implementing and managing multiple contactless position sensors.
Thus a need exists for a reliable and/or inexpensive contactless position sensor that overcomes the deficiencies set forth above.